Connect Adds 2 to Staff to Bolster Accelerator Program, Business Development

Connect, which runs a tech and life science incubator program for entrepreneurs, recently added two new hires to its staff of eight.

The organization said Tom Murphy will serve as senior vice president of business development, partnering with CEO Greg McKee to develop new relationships between the organization and the technology and life sciences sectors in San Diego.

Connect said Murphy has more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry.

Ruprecht von Buttlar, who served as Connect’s vice president of business creation and development from 2006 to 2015, has returned to the organization as an interim senior strategic advisor to the organization’s flagship Springboard accelerator program. The program helps entrepreneurs refine their business plan, develop a commercialization strategy and a pitch for investors. Connect said von Buttlar has extensive experience building startups, nurturing entrepreneurs and growing organizations.

He will work with a new advisory committee, headed by Tim Scott, to enhance the Springboard program. Scott, a member of Connect’s executive committee, is CEO of TEGA Therapeutics.

More than 250 companies of the 465 that have graduated the Springboard program since 2005 remain in business, according to Connect. The companies that have gone through the program have collectively created 6,400 new jobs and raised more than $1.95 billion in capital, Connect said.